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Waiting for the Barbarians

Without sets or props, the writer and director Eugène Green turns a workshop for a dozen actors in Toulouse into a richly substantial contrivance of theatrical whimsy. Four men (the Poet, the Homeless Man, the Hipster, and the Non-Hipster) and two women (the Hipsterelle and the Paintress) arrive at the ornate and ancient villa of a middle-aged pair of magi and the ghost of their late daughter. The wanderers are seeking refuge from menacing barbarians (identified as anyone from Visigoths to “United-Statesians”). After confiscating their cell phones, the magi cast their guests into darkness, where, with only their faces illuminated, they’re made to talk—in archly literary dialogue, with archaic diction, that’s pierced by comedic glints of modern slang and sharp epigrams that delve deep into intimate yearnings and range far in political observations. Then, in a bare chamber, the magi stage an actual twelfth-century romance that inspires the group to face the world and defy the barbarians. Green unites his multifaceted artistry—featuring dramatic production, historical investigation, and sharply rarefied images—in a concise, philosophical, and comedic tour de force.